Tie plate and rail clip combination



May 30, 1939.- T. RYAN TIE PLATE AND RAIL CLIP COMBINATION Filed March5, 1938 3 v vu uwvlk b Thom lgyajz,

Patented May 30, 1939 PATENT OFFICE TIE PLATE AND RAIL CLIP COMBINATIONThomas Ryan, Joliet, 111., assignor to Poor & Company, New York, N. Y.,a corporation of Delaware Application March 5, 1938, Serial No. 194,186

2 Claims.

This invention relates to means for holding railway rails against upwardmovement and against creeping longitudinally, and has particularreference to an improved tie plate, rail 5 clip and spike combinationfor this purpose.

One special object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensivetie plate, rail clip and spike combination according to which driving ofthe spike in the ordinary manner; i. e.,

to while the same is held vertically, or substantially vertically,effectively secures the rail clip in interlocked engagement with thetie, plate and operatively positioned relative to the rail.

Another special object of the invention is to 5 provide a tie plate,rail clip and spike; combination according to which driving of the spikeexerts pressure against the rail clip to store energy therein so thatthe clip bears resiliently against the rail to resiliently hold thelatter against upward movement and against creeping longitudinally.

Another special object of the invention is to provide a tie plate, railclip and spike combination according to which the tie plate embodiesstop means to prevent driving of .the spike beyond the point in which itsecures! the rail clip operatively positioned relative to the rail, thusto eliminate the possibility of driving the spike so far as possibly todamage the rail clip or :0 to impair its rail holding effectiveness.

Another special object of the invention is to provide a tie platehaving, in addition to stop means as aforementioned, a formation forinterlocking cooperation with the rail clip, and fur- ;5 ther havingsaid formation and stop means located relative to a spike hole in theplate that said formation, stop means and spike hole may be produced bya single tool in a single punch-- ing operation, practically withoutdistortion of o the tie plate.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become morefully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, thesame consists in the novel features of construc- [5 tion, combinationand arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawing and defined in the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like characters of reference denotecorresponding parts in the different views:

Figure 1 is a transverse section through a tie plate, rail clip andspike combination embodying the features of the invention and showingthe 5 initial and final positions of the spike and the rail clip indotted and full lines, respectively; and

Figure 2'is a top plan view of the combination shown in Fig. 1. v I

Referring to the drawing in detail, A designates a portion of a crosstie, B designates a tie plate formed inaccorda'nce with the inventionand seated on said cross tie, C designates a rail seated on said tieplate, D designates an ordinary spike fastening the tie plate B to thecross tie A, and E designates a rail clip formed in accordance with theinvention and secured by the spike D in interlocked engagement with thetie plate B and operatively positioned relative I to the rail 0.

According to the invention the tie plate B has punched therein a spikehole In which may be of any suitable width and which is of a lengthsuitably greater than the cross sectional dimension of the shank ll ofthe spike D between it also deflects the metal of the tie plate upwardlyadjacent to both ends of the spike hole in a mannerto provide in the tieplate, adjacent to the inner end of the spike hole, a recess I! whichopens through the bottom of the tie plate and into said spike hole, and,adjacent to the outer end of the spike hole, a. lug IS the top of whichis disposed above the upper face of the tie plate so as to provide ashoulder or point of reaction on a plane with the point of engagement ofthe spike with the bight of the clip E so that the wedge action of thetapered spike or tip will be in a horizontal plane, and this relativepositioning of parts in turn will allow the spike to be drivenvertically into the tie. Furthermore, the top edge of the lug I3constitutes a stop engageable by the head of the spike to limit thedriving thereof to a predetermined point so as to effectually maintainthe operative position and relation of parts as shown in Fig. 1 of thedrawing. '50

It will be seen, from the foregoing, that since the metal of the tieplate is deflected upwardly at opposite ends of the spike holesimultaneously, the pressures exerted by the tool on the tie plate atopposite ends of the spike hole are balanced, v

distort under the punching operation, or the punch to be forced out ofline by an eccentric pressure. From a manufacturing standpoint this isimportant, as serious difllculties have heretofore been encountered dueto tie plate distortion when punching a spike hole therein andsimultaneously producing a recess or equivalent rail clip engagingformation adjacent to only one end of the hole.

The rail clip E is formed from spring steel or equivalent material,preferably from fiat bar stock of suitable thickness and width, and isof approximately c-shape or inverted c-shape in side elevation,depending upon whether the same is viewed from the right or the leftside. In other words, said clip comprises a relatively long upper armI5, a relatively short lower arm l6, and a medial portion ll ofsubstantially semicircular shape connecting said arms.

The clip E initially is engaged with the tie plate B and the rail C asillustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. That is'to say, prior toinsertion of the spike D into the hole ID, the rail clip is positionedwith the free end portion of its shorter lower arm IS in the recess l2,with the free end portion of its longer, upper arm-l5 overlying theflange l8 of the rail C, and with its curved medial portion l1 facingoutwardly and disposed in part within the spike hole l2 and in partabove the tie plate. In this connection it will be observed that thenormal dimensions of the clip E are such that when it is initiallyapplied as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, with the free end of itsshorter arm engaging the walls defining the top and the inner end of therecess 12 and with its longer arm engaging the upper face of the railflange Hi, the outer face of its curved, medial portion I1 is spacedfrom the wall defining, the outer end of the spike hole l2, or, in otherwords, from the inner face of the stop lug l3, by an amount less thanthe cross sectional dimension of the spike shank ll between its innerand its outer faces. Moreover, it will further be observed that the clipE is dimensioned so that when it is in its initially applied positionthe outer face of its curved, medial portion I1 is spaced from the innerface of the stop lug It by an amount such as to permit the pointed endportion of the spike D to be inserted between said medial portion l1 andthe lug l3, while the spike is held vertically, until the penetratingend of the spike is engaged with the cross tie A. This action isrendered effective by the fact that the outer face of the bend or bightll of the spring clip which engages the spike, is directly opposite to,and at the same elevation as the upstanding lug l3.

By reason of this relative positioning of the parts the spike D may beheld in a truly vertical or approximately vertical position fordriving,-

and manifestly, when it is driven it serves to crowd the curved, medialportion H of the clip alinwardly, but it will of course be understood tat it might be necessary to start the spike at an angle suflicient topermit the point to penetrate the tie sufflciently inward from the lugl3 so that when the wide portion of the spike reaches l3 it will then bein, or corrected to, a vertical position. The clip cannot movedownwardly because of the stop afforded by the upper face of the crosstie, and its arm I6 is held against both inward and upward movement bythe walls deflning the inner end and the top of the recess l2.Consequently, when the spike is driven and the the spike with the clip,

curved, medial portion ll of the clip is crowded inwardly, the upper,longer arm ii of the clip is caused to slide inwardly over the upwardlyand inwardly inclined face of the rail flange I8, with the result thatthe arm 15 is spread relative to the arm 16 .and spring energy is storedin the clip maintaining the arm l5 securely engaged with the rail flangeand efiectively holding the rail against upward movement and againstlongitudinal creeping. v

The spike D is driven until its head l4 engages the stop lug la. Thespike thus serves to fasten the tie plate B securely upon the tie.Moreover, the lug I3 is of a height such that it prevents driving of thespike so far that its head might engage and crush the clip. Furthermore,the lug l3 affords a backing or support for the spike in the horizontalplane of or directly opposite its bearing'against the clip, which isimportant not only as affording a flrm final assembly of the parts, butespecially in holding the spike in a normal, vertical position duringdriving of the same.

Without further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and it will, of course, be understood that changes in the form,proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a cross tie, a tie plate resting thereon, said tieplate having a spike hole and a recess adjacent to the inner end ofsaid.

hole opening into the latter and through the bottom of the tie plate, alip overlying the inner portion of said recess, a resilient clipincluding upper and lower arms and a substantially U- shaped portionconnecting said arms, said arms and said connecting portion being ofsuch thickness that the arms may readily spring toward and away fromeach other, the lower arm being disposed in said recess and having itsinner end portion underlying said lip, the upper arm overlying the railflange, a spike driven into the tie through said hole outwardly of saidclip and having horizontal line contact with the substantially U-shapedarm connecting portion of said clip substantially medially of saidconnecting portion and exerting inward pressure against said clip,thereby maintaining the clip in an inwardly crowded position with itsupper arm in contact with the rail flange and spread relative to thelower arm, whereby the upper arm resiliently engages the rail flangeyieldably and holds the rail against upward movement, and a lug on thetie plate at the outer end of the spike hole engaging the head of thespike and limiting driving of the latter, thereby to protect the clipagainst being crushed, and also engaging the outer face of the spikein'the plane of the line contact of thereby to effectively hold thespike against becoming canted outwardly under the influence of theoutward pressure exerted thereagainst by the clip.

2. In combination, a cross tie, a tie plate'resting thereon, said tieplate having a spike hole and a recess adjacent to the inner end of saidhole opening into the latter and through the bottom of the tie plate, alip overlying the inner portion of said recess, a resilient clipincluding upper and lower arms and a substantially U-shaped portionconnecting said arms, said arms and said connecting portion being ofsuch thickness that the arms "may readily spring toward and away fromeach other, the lower arm being disposed in said recess and having itsinner end portion underlying said lip, the upper arm overlying the railflange, a spike driven into the tiethrough said hole outwardly of saidclip and having horizontal line contact with the substantially U-shapedarm connecting portion of said clip and exerting inward pressure againstsaid clip, thereby maintaining the clip in an inwardly crowded positionwith its upper arm in contact with the rail flange and spread relativeto the lower arm, whereby the upper arm resiliently engages the railflange yieldably and holds the rail against upward movement, and anabutment provided at the outer end of the spike hole engaging the outerface of the spike of the shank to thereby brace the clip and spikeagainst outward movement and to prevent outward canting of thespikeunder the influence of the outward pressure exerted thereagainst bythe clip.

THOMAS RYAN.

